

#Lumbar puncture side effects headache professional
Healthcare professionals may also sometimes use epidural anesthesia to numb the pelvic area during childbirth.ĭuring an epidural procedure, a medical professional injects anesthetic into the space that surrounds the spinal cord. Epidural anesthesiaĮpidural anesthesia is a technique that medical professionals use as a primary surgical anesthetic or as a resource for pain management after surgery. This causes the person receiving the subarachnoid block to experience loss of feeling in the lower half of their body, allowing a doctor to perform certain medical and surgical procedures.Ī subarachnoid block is often an effective alternative to general anesthesia when the site of the surgery is in the lower half of the body. Subarachnoid blockĭuring a subarachnoid block, a medical professional injects anesthetic medications into the fluid in the lower part of the spine.

Fluoroscopy is a type of medical imaging that uses a continuous X-ray to allow healthcare professionals to see moving images of an area in the body. They then use a CT scan or fluoroscopy to observe the dye within the spinal canal.

Doctors sometimes refer to a lumbar puncture as a spinal tap.Ī healthcare professional may use a lumbar puncture to diagnose:Ī diagnostic myelography (myelogram) is a diagnostic procedure that a doctor can use to diagnose potential issues with a person’s spinal canal, which is the bony channel in the spine that protects the spinal cord and nerve roots.ĭuring this procedure, a medical professional inserts a dye into a person’s spinal canal. Lumbar punctureĭuring this procedure, a doctor takes a sample of CSF from a person’s spinal cord using a needle to diagnose certain conditions. It has also rarely been reported after heavy lifting or without a known cause. While these are the most common causes, sometimes a spinal headache can occur from a leak due to trauma, primary or metastatic spine cancer or spinal cord cancer, or after spine surgery. This leak causes the support that the CSF provides around the brain to decrease.Ī CSF leak may occur as a complication of a number of procedures, including the following procedures. Spinal headaches occur when CSF leaks from the spinal cord, and it can occur due to a puncture during a medical procedure, or as a result of trauma or disease.
